Examination of nature experiences of adult envi̇ronmental volunteers in childhood periods

In this study, in Turkey, adult volunteers of the environment, the nature lovers and some members of civil society organizations dealing with the environment; how the interaction with nature in childhood and how this interaction affects the individual's approach to the environment in the next life, whether it makes his/him sensitive to nature and interest. In this study, the opinions of these individuals about the causes and consequences of the nature deficit disorder are also examined. The study was conducted with 265 adult environmental volunteers who were selected by using appropriate / accidental sampling method which is one of the non-random sampling methods. In this study, exploratory correlation technique, which is one of the quantitative research methods, is used as data collection method. The data were obtained by a questionnaire which was developed by the researcher and the validity and reliability study was conducted. The data obtained at the end of the study were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 package program and discussed and interpreted. As a result of the analyzes, while the direct interaction of nature volunteers and their time spent in the open space was more in their childhood, in today's children the time spent in closed spaces increased and thus the interaction with nature decreased. Participants share the view that there is an increased interest in technological tools and a degraded environment as the main reasons for the disconnection with nature. As the main problems caused by this situation, they see an increase in dependence on technological tools and a decrease in the awareness of nature protection. Additionally, it was determined that there was a moderate positive relationship between environmental volunteers' views on 'enjoyment of nature' and 'contribution of nature to personal development'. After all, as Richard Louv says, "If we want to save nature, our tomorrows, we must first save an endangered species: THE CHILD IN NATURE ". Key Words: Child and Nature, Childhood Nature Experiences, Non-Governmental Organizations Related to Environment, Nature Deficit Disorder, Enjoyment of Nature Scale, Contribution of Nature to Personal Development Scale